The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced the offer of N450 billion worth of Nigerian Treasury Bills (NTBs) for auction on Wednesday, June 17, with settlement scheduled for June 18.
The auction details were contained in an official notice to Primary Money Market Dealers (PMMDs), seen on Tuesday.
The amount on offer is significantly lower than the Debt Management Office’s (DMO) revised second-quarter plan, which indicated a total issuance target of up to N1 trillion for the period.
Under the revised programme, the DMO had increased the overall Q2 borrowing plan to N4.8 trillion, up from an earlier estimate of N3.95 trillion released in April.
The NTB auction will be conducted through a Dutch Auction system across three tenors: N150 billion for 91-day bills, N50 billion for 182-day bills, and N250 billion for 364-day bills.
Bids will be submitted via the CBN’s Scripless Securities Settlement System (S4) between 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. on June 17. The minimum bid size is N50,001,000, with additional bids required in multiples of N1,000.
Authorised dealers are permitted to submit multiple bids on behalf of themselves or clients. Successful bidders will receive allotment letters on June 18 and are expected to complete payment by 11:00 a.m. the same day into their CBN accounts.
The CBN retains the discretion to increase, reduce, or reject bids depending on market conditions.
However, there is uncertainty over the divergence between the CBN’s offer size and the DMO’s updated auction calendar, with no official clarification yet on whether the gap reflects a revision or a staggered issuance strategy.
In previous auctions, including one held earlier in June, the DMO offered N1 trillion in Treasury bills and received strong demand of nearly N1.95 trillion, underscoring sustained investor appetite for short-term government securities.
Market analysts note that Nigeria’s Treasury bill programme remains a key liquidity management tool, especially as the CBN continues aggressive liquidity tightening through Open Market Operations (OMO), including a recent mop-up of about N3.7 trillion in a single auction.
The shift in issuance patterns reflects broader efforts to balance government borrowing needs with monetary policy objectives aimed at controlling inflation and stabilising liquidity conditions in the financial system.
The DMO’s revised calendar shows that most Q2 borrowing is concentrated in 364-day bills, suggesting a preference for longer-dated instruments to reduce frequent refinancing pressure.
The CBN is expected to conduct another NTB auction before the end of the second quarter in line with the updated issuance schedule.
